Construction Software Companies & Consultants in Orem, UT

BidMail, Inc. is a construction software company based in Orem, Utah. It builds tools for the preconstruction and workforce sides of the building industry. Brian Stapleton founded the company in 1994, and it has spent roughly three decades on one problem: helping general contractors get project documents to trade partners and collect their bids. Its main customers are general contractors who invite subcontractors to bid on a regular basis. The subcontractors who receive those invitations also use the system.

Bid invitations and online plan room

The core product is BidMail SHARE, an invitation-to-bid application tied directly to a hosted online plan room. A general contractor can send large batches of personalized bid invitations at once and then manage the replies from one dashboard. Because the invitations link to the plan room, there are no separate file-transfer steps.

Subcontractors get an organized, indexed set of project drawings and specifications. They can download the files, view them in the browser or do quantity takeoffs online. Directory listings describe the platform's work as:

• Managing and distributing construction documents
• Hosting digital plan sets for active bid projects
• Sending and tracking bid invitations
• Keeping subcontractor contact databases up to date
• Collecting statistics on bidding activity and response rates

For estimating teams, the result is one place to publish a bid package, see which trades have engaged and follow up with those who haven't.

Workforce and time tracking

Besides bid management, the company sells BidMail Workforce, a time and attendance product designed for construction crews. It has mobile time clocks, field messaging, accounting integration and reporting. Its companion app runs on smartphones, tablets and computers and syncs in real time. Employees can clock their own hours, or a supervisor can manage timecards for the crew.

The software totals regular and overtime hours, sorts time by job and trade, and can use GPS to confirm that workers are on site when they punch in. Managers can filter staff by department, trade, job or status, so the tool suits both small crews and larger field teams.

Background and approach

BidMail is a private company with its main office in Utah County. Third-party profiles put its team at roughly 51 to 100 people. Its leadership includes founder Brian Stapleton. The company has also been tied to a store operation in Tustin, California, and some of its published phone numbers use Southern California area codes. The Orem office is its listed headquarters. The company aims to be a central hub for electronic bid solicitations and construction document distribution.

Buyers comparing construction software will find BidMail most useful for the bid-invitation and plan-sharing stage of a project. Firms that also want field time tracking can get it from the same vendor. The company has focused on contractor bidding workflows since the mid-1990s. Teams evaluating it should look at how its plan room, subcontractor lists and response tracking fit their current estimating process. They should also check whether the Workforce module would replace separate timekeeping tools.